The present invention is directed to integrated circuits and their processing for the manufacture of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the invention provides a programmable device with embedded electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) and method for making thereof. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to one-time programmable (OTP) device with embedded EEPROM. But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability.
Integrated circuits or “ICs” have evolved from a handful of interconnected devices fabricated on a single chip of silicon to millions of devices. Current ICs provide performance and complexity far beyond what was originally imagined. In order to achieve improvements in complexity and circuit density (i.e., the number of devices capable of being packed onto a given chip area), the size of the smallest device feature, also known as the device “geometry”, has become smaller with each generation of ICs. Semiconductor devices are now being fabricated with features less than a quarter of a micron across.
Increasing circuit density has not only improved the complexity and performance of ICs but has also provided lower cost parts to the consumer. An IC fabrication facility can cost hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars. Each fabrication facility will have a certain throughput of wafers, and each wafer will have a certain number of ICs on it. Therefore, by making the individual devices of an IC smaller, more devices may be fabricated on each wafer, thus increasing the output of the fabrication facility. Moreover, the output of the fabrication facility also depends on the complexity of the fabrication process. For example, additional masking steps and/or additional ion implantation steps may significantly reduce the throughput and increase the cost.
Fabrication of custom integrated circuits using chip foundry services has evolved over the years. Fabless chip companies often design the custom integrated circuits. Such custom integrated circuits require a set of custom masks commonly called “reticles” to be manufactured. A chip foundry company called Semiconductor International Manufacturing Company (SMIC) of Shanghai, China is an example of a chip company that performs foundry services. Although fabless chip companies and foundry services have increased through the years, many limitations still exist. For example, it is difficult to efficiently make erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) with embedded EEPROM. These and other limitations are described throughout the present specification and more particularly below.
From the above, it is seen that an improved semiconductor device and method for making thereof is desired.